Super Couponing

Dear Daughter and I have watched just about all the reality shows in the weeks that she's been on break, and one of our favs has been Extreme Couponing. I'm still not sure exactly how they manage to do it, but DD & I have decided to really give it a try, and see what we can do.




Yesterday, we went to CVS & Kroger's, armed with DD's research and packets of coupons. At CVS, we stocked up on some laundry detergent, personal and beauty items. After the store discounts, store coupon and manufacturer's coupon, we saved 50% PLUS got a $10 CVS card! At Kroger's we stocked up on personal items, some pasta, cleaning stuff, and saved 42% after all the store sale prices, e-coupons loaded on my Kroger's card, manufacturer's coupons, plus bonus savings.

It's not the stunning 90-99% savings they get on TV, but way better than I would normally do! I'm hoping to do even better each time; we would have done better at Krogers, but we missed some fine print; if we had broken up our purchases into 2 transactions, we'd have saved another $4.

Our goal is to get a nice stockpile going, so this summer when I'm off work from the museum, we'll be good!

Oooohhhh.....so full!

So much food!

So many presents!

So much fun!









Big piles of wrapping paper, family surrounded by their toys, Spook looking a bit dazed and confused, the AWESOME steampunk gun Dear Daughter MADE me! (nerf gun, painted and embellished, SUPER COOL!)

All the presents I was making got finished in the nick of time (I wrecked my sewing machine on the last one!) I made a few more Etsy sales, very exciting! Dear Daughter & I have been watching marathon TV for 5 days; Hoarders, What Not to Wear, Extreme Couponing; all the stuff I won't watch when she's gone.

Looking forward to a couple of days straightening up and cleaning out, to welcome in the New Year!

Christmas Kitty!

Snapple, who says she's invisible because she's hiding behind the tree!

The year comes to a close

It's rainy again (or is that still?) I'm busy at the museum (which is good) and I'm trying to get the house decorated for Christmas and the holidays. I've got the green tree up and decorated, the pink tree up without decorations. I've unpacked lots of other little trees, and stored some of the normal objects I surround myself with, to make room for glittering little cardboard houses and manger scenes.

I feel like I'm on a roller coaster, though, with lots of exciting things, and lots of worrisome things hitting me from all sides.

Exciting: gave a presentation to the Delaware Artist Guild about my Red Panty clothing, learned to use Powerpoint for said presentation, got paid and sold a piece at presentation, sold another item on Etsy, have many many MANY gifts to be sewn before Christmas, started using Pinterest which is a really fun site to collect things from around the web into 1 place, wrestling a teensy bit of responsibility for scheduling from my control-freak boss, preparing for a show of my work in Newark, anticipating a lovely Christmas break at home with beloved daughter, family, friends, etc.

Worrisome: losing Go Figure as a retail outlet for the Red Panty Clothing, worrying about Sherri from Go Figure who is closing due to some health concerns, have many many MANY gifts to be sewn before Christmas, responsibility for scheduling the Library gallery, preparing for a show of my work in Newark, a long Christmas break with no work and no paycheck, beloved daughter in her final week of projects and papers and exams as she struggles to keep it together. sigh!

I am trying to maintain an attitude of open, willing, and wide-eyed wonder through this month, and keep casting around for alternatives, opportunities and possibilities. The whole "closes a door, opens a window" type of viewpoint. I'm looking for outlets for my art, my clothing, my friendship, my energy. I know I will find them.

Sometimes we become so comfortable where we are, we stop looking ahead to the next great thing, and are taken by surprise when things change. As they always do. ALWAYS!

I flipped through my notebook last week, which serves as a sort of journal for me. I don't sketch, I don't do dairy entries, but I make lists. LOTS of them! I stumbled upon a list I made last January, of blessings to be thankful for in the new year. I can still count them all! Under my "plans" for 2011, I did cross a few off. The few I didn't cross off, I guess I'll just use first in my new list for next year.

So I continue to gather up images, ideas, contacts and entry forms, and make lists of all the possibilities. And I continue to be thankful for all my blessings, which includes every single friend!

Happy Valentine's Day!

No hearts and flowers, but a picture of my favorite Valentine from Saturday. College of Wooster Equestrian Team at the first show of 2011. Ana rode for the first time in a new class, and in her second show got a 3rd!! Yay! She's wearing the new jacket I just finished; it looks so pretty close up, but I noticed when she was in the ring, it was very muted....which isn't necessarily a bad thing, her coach isn't a big fan of the bling!

Giddy up!

Well, my baby headed back to Wooster for spring semester after a month at home.....can you be both sorry and glad to see them go?? Yeah, I think so!

But, I'm thinking of her as I work on her new Western jacket for this semester's equestrian events.

It's a zip-up jacket with fancy collar and cuffs; it doesn't tuck in, just rides at the hips. Here the sleeves are just basted in for a fitting; the finished sleeves will also have the pink applique on them. Yep, that's a rhinestone zipper down the front; fancy, yes?

Kitty in the sun

It's just Spook, enjoying a rare moment of sunlight this winter!

It's a Trilobite Christmas!

or, how to please your geology-archaeology double major daughter!

So, I knitted her a hat with trilobites on it. AND I knitted 3 little trilobite specimens. AND I made some felt beanbag toys with trilobites and brachiopod fossils on them!

I think she liked them!

Christmas trees everywhere!

Yes, I have begun putting up the multiple trees in the house, and I've gotten the biggest ones up.


There's the pretty pink one in the front room (do you see the kitty sleeping on the couch??) accompanied by the new wreath that dear daughter made me....that's a Godiva box decoration in the middle!





There's the green tree in the center room....we've perched it on the concrete and stone pad where the pellet stove was. We gave that to the guy who put in our air conditioning, but the pad is even heavier and will require a jack hammer to remove. So, for now, it makes a nice tree stand!



I still need to figure out new tree skirts, and all the little trees need to come out of their boxes, but it's a start! I think I like the green tree the best; daughter and I re-did the decorations last year when the house we were living in was on the holiday home tour. I'm sure there are older posts to show that.

Is your tree up yet?

Cowgirl Up!.....er, I mean down!

In the midst of the rush to finish sewing for the show, in the midst of installing 4 FOUR new exhibits in THREE locations at the museum, Anastasia had an equestrian event Sunday at Oberlin!

2 hours to drive up there, hurry up and wrestle her chaps on, which went surprisingly smooth....then, being a nice horse mom, helped a competitor zip hers up, and helped the other 2 girls on the team with theirs. Almost thought they weren't going to go! Told both Beth & Colby, no salt this week! I won't be able to go to the next show, it's the same day as the Go Green with Red Panties Trunk show, so they're out of luck!

Ana looked GREAT on her first ride; they had been pulling horses all morning for just being crazy wild....Ana's original draw was pulled, and the horse they substituted was a bit prancy. Seems a LOT of the horses just were spooked by the crowd; they wouldn't come all the way down the ring, they would spook at the rail, what a mess. Anyway, Ana was doing a great job with her ride; got that horse to come nearly all the way down, riding tall, then on the reverse, was trotting, just got the call to drop to a walk and BAM! Horse just sat his butt down sideways, and DROPPED her!! She held on to the reins for a good bit, and her hat stayed on!! (I was good, didn't run right out into the ring to save my baby!)

Judge came over to see if she needed a hand up; she looked rather stunned! EMT's came in to see if she needed checked out, but she just pulled her chaps up and waited for the ride to be over. Judge gave her a THIRD place ribbon....imagine she might have gotten 1st if she'd stayed on!

Then, we found out, she'll have to be disqualified since she became separated from her horse...so I took a quick photo of her and the ribbon....which she ended up getting to keep after all, just no points for the ride. Ana said, if they took her ribbon, it would be like winning Miss America, then getting stripped of the crown for naughty pictures in her past!

This was all by 10:00am; after that, we had to wait HOURS in the cold, cold, barn for the second ride; Ana got off the horse at 6:00 PM; worth the wait though, because she placed SECOND!!! Yay!! (different judge, different horse!) No photos though, it was the LAST ride, pratically in the dark since very few lights in the barn, and everybody wanted to get the heck outta dodge!

It was a very strange day; during the second rounds, a horse actually kicked the rail AND 2 other horses; needless to say, they pulled that one too! The horse that dumped Ana didn't get away with it, though; the owner took him into the second ring and rode him quite a bit, til he settled down, because he couldn't think it was acceptable to throw a rider.

Ana was all set and prepared, in case the horse would rear, or would drop his head to buck her off, but the sideways move was a new one, just way too Ninja for her, and wasn't able to counter that! But she was applauded when she got up out of the dirt and walked out of the ring, and a couple of the other coaches told her, way to cowgirl up!

Blue Bottles and Poison Ivy

I think that Autumn is starting to creep in....I do like the smell of burning leaves, although any more, most cities don't allow it.

I've lit my chiminea a couple of times and have been burning the dead sticks that constantly fall out of the giant maple trees; what is it about them, everywhere we've lived, they shed like cats!

I'm working on my blue bottle garden, though...I need to find some bolt cutters to use on my rebar, but dowels work fairly well for the shorter limbs. Sad, though, the tall ones bent right over from the rain. Yep, that's poison ivy peeking through the pine needles and snaking up the tree trunk. I'll have to deal with it soon, before it gets out of hand.

I've been collecting sculpture to fill in around it...Killer Bunnies that I bought from a graduating senior a few years back, and a turtle and cobra my brother Michael made me from parts when his engine exploded.







My father-in-law's dog is enjoying the backyard more, now that it is a bit cooler. Floyd, too, likes to sit outside and enjoy the antics of the squirrels and stray cats.





Lots of exciting things coming up for me, with my clothing line....Stay Tuned!

New House means lots of work!

In amongst the creative endeavors, I must make time to move! I do not like the physical moving, very difficult, but it must be done. This week I have dropped off 1 car load of things each day. Saturday, the parents came over and took 3 loads in the pickup, which sounds like a lot, but isn't a drip in the bucket.

I've got 2 more gallons of paint ready to use; Iced Lemonade (yellow for the kitchen) and Jericho (green for the dining room). The tan/gray color in the middle is Ashen, and I've already painted the living room that color.

I've decided not to paint the den; since it won't be my sewing room, it will take on a slightly more masculine air. I've got 3 white bookshelves in place to accept carloads of books. In our current home, we have a WALL of bookshelves, built-in on either side of the fireplace....I'm really going to miss them!

However, in consolation, I now have command of the Barn! YES!! The ART BARN! It is about 28 feet by 16 feet, I believe, and very tall. Heated and airconditioned, super great! Most of what we moved on Saturday was bins and more bins of yarn and fabric.

The walls are corrugated stuff, maybe fiberglass, I'm not sure. I'll need to figure out a way to surround myself with beauty, or it's going to look very garage-y! Someone asked me today if I'm planning a vacation this summer, and while I'm not going anywhere, I'll be busy!

We have a home!

Super busy week here, but the bottom line....we have a home! Hubby signed a million papers Wednesday, and we have the keys to our new house!

Friday night we had a romantic dinner for two: lawnchairs in the kitchen, eating Wendy's and sharing a miniature, teeny little bottle of Prosecco in paper cups. We looked in every cupboard and turned on all the lights, checked it all out. Took my parents through everything this week. Hubby mowed the lawn today (which meant buying a new push lawn mower, as the monster cub cadet not only won't fit through the garden gate, it's just way too big!)

Sunday my mom & I drove up to Wooster to visit my daughter, and she gave me this lovely painting:

She said that with the closing, and after seeing my little quilt with the Piran houses on it, she was inspired. I love it; I'm looking for a frame now, because I think it will be the first thing I hang on the walls!

A House, a Home!

We are in contract! We will have a house soon!

Hubby & I have been together 27 years, living together 25, renting all that time. But no more! We are in contract for a sweet house here in town!

It is set up with a space on the first floor so that in the event his dad comes to live with us, the only accommodation we'll need to make it switching out a tub for a shower, and perhaps a little ramp to the back door.

Sweet picket fencing, and can you see, there are TWO garages!! One for 2 cars, and another BIG one, can you say workshop?? That one is heated for comfort in the winter. These face the alley out back.

When hubby & I went on the 3rd look-at, we took daughter along, too. It was nice, because the 4 feet of snow had finally melted and we could actually see what lay beneath. In the back, there is a curious hill of earth, which Ana & I quickly dubbed the ancient burial mound, but which apparently had a water feature at one point, and now is extra dirt to use. Ana & I found an awesome stele of stone at the nursery store, with a cleft in it for water to gurgle down. Perfect, we'll create our own henge!
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There is a lovely landing at the top of the stairs; that door leads to a balcony!

I can't wait to make this our own, make it into a home!

Equestrian Success!!

I know it's been ages, but let's get updated!!


Dear Daughter Ana has been on the College of Wooster Equestrian Team since her freshman year, and this fall participated in her first 2 events!

The first was held at Oberlin College. Ana rode twice in the Beginner category, and got a Fourth Place ribbon on her second ride! Yea!!

The second was held near Akron, the University of which hosted, and Ana got Sixth Place on her first ride, THIRD place on the second!! Woo-hoo!!